Characteristics and Main Effects of Contract Agriculture in La Costa de Hermosillo

The Costa de Hermosillo is an agricultural region of the state of Sonora, Mexico, with a semi-desert climate which has been closed for water extraction for more than fifty years. This region played an important role as a barn in Mexico during the import substitution industrialization model, through the cultivation of grains and cotton, at the same time important organizations were formed that integrated producers, which mostly disappeared in the change of export-oriented economic model. The goal of this work is to analyze the actions taken by farmers in order to migrate to agriculture by contract and the effects of this form of production, by examining the main crops that are produced in the Costa de Hermosillo, Sonora under this modality. To achieve this goal, a qualitative cross-sectional research was followed, using semi-structured interview, as well as a desk research with data from government institutions. As a conclusion the farmers of the Costa de Hermosillo, facing a change of economic model, turned towards agriculture by contract, in order to have certainty in their production and the price in dollars agreed in advance. The observed effects are mixed. On one hand, Sonora state is the leader in the national production of agriculture by contract, as farmers have invested in infrastructure to improve their water use efficiency and develop more technified crops, in order to ensure quality as established in production contracts. On the other hand, the agreed production is almost entirely destined for foreign markets and local consumers have to pay higher prices for those products.